Tag Archives: heartbreak coffee

Last weekend, my mom and I embarked on a new challenge. We must avoid all drive-thru eateries for an entire month. This wouldn’t be difficult for me, but I have a secret addiction to drive-thru Starbucks. Because sometimes when we’re on the road, I need a coffee. And almost all the time, I don’t want to have to lug my daughter out of the car and then back into the car to get a simple coffee.

The thought of walking to a little, hidden gem of a local coffee shop is a beautiful thought, except for the fact that I live nowhere near one. When I lived in downtown Sacramento, you could just turn in any direction and point, and a coffee shop would magically appear. But this is not the case.

So, it’s time to broaden the horizons. Since I will be more dependent on my at-home coffee-making skills more than ever, I’ve come to a conclusion. It’s time to stock up on some coffee from rad coffee shops when I come across one, and then get some rad travel mugs.

Photo from Mugoos

First of all, I love Mary Tyler Moore. I used to watch that show on TV Land before all my of childhood shows somehow wound up there, and before there was a DVR. This coffee mug not only brings a smile to my face and brings back memories of no responsibilities, it’s also kind of a perfect quote for my life right now. This ceramic mug has a plastic lid and is double-insulated. MC Simon, who made the mug and runs Mugoos, is a mama-of-two who was welder before running her own handmade ceramic shop.

Photo from Heartbreak Coffee

Heartbreak Coffee is not actually local, but I read about this online coffee shop on Design*Sponge and I fell in love with the story. She brews and sells everything from her kitchen, and the first comment on her Coming Soon post was from her mom. I mean, come on.

So, I think this would be a great time to start reviewing different coffee shops – both local and online.

And what goes better with coffee than…

MUFFINS!!!

I used a recipe from The Granny Girls for these apple blueberry muffins and they were delicious – and good for you! I count them as a success because my boyfriend – the enemy of all that is health food – even enjoyed them. My muffins tend to be dry, but these were simply delightful. Moist (I know, I hate that word too), and every bite was filled with fruit.

The ingredients are below and you can get the full recipe here. I’m thinking of adding bananas next time (like, tomorrow).

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup turbinado sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup raisins or currants blueberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup apple juice (I didn’t have any so I used almond milk)

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup apple sauce

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg, beaten (or 2 egg whites)

2-3 medium apples, unpeeled, finely chopped (or grated)

What healthy steps are you taking? Share them in the comments and on social media. If you are writing about it, share the post with me! I would love to help motivate each other!

You are the company you keep. I have heard those words over and over again in my life. If your friends are truly a reflection of you who are as a person, you should be particular about who you choose. I can easily pinpoint phases in my life by the people I chose to hang out with. There are a couple people whose friendship carried over to now, and I can literally count them on one hand.

This also holds true in the online world, too. When I first got pregnant, I added and followed just about every mama blog on the planet, without giving it much thought. Then slowly but surely, I started weeding blogs and people out. Not that they weren’t lovely in their own right, but they weren’t right for me. I made a decision to be more particular about who I follow on social media and to keep it to inspiring people who motivated me to keep my creative dreams alive.

Because I made this adjustment, it’s really easy for me to find things I love to write about. There is always something creative, something meaningful and something wholehearted.

Found this awesome Illustration from Lisa Congdon today. How perfect

Here is what made me happy this week:

Photo from Design*Sponge

I love Design*Sponge not only because it’s such an amazing resource for beginner and advanced crafters alike, but also because of the topics they cover. When I first got into this site, I found a column called Biz Ladies, where they share biz lady profiles and also tips for ladies running the biz. Now, they just started a new column, Veterans and Startups, where they feature one veteran and one startup company in the same niche. This week, the focus was coffee. Grace posted the interview with Heartbreak Coffee (the startup) and followed it up with an interview with Intelligentsia Coffee (the veteran).

Photo from The Mombot

When I saw this today, it spoke to me. I am super blessed to have a DSLR, but I have not a clue how to use it. I’ve read photography tips here and there, and I am learning Photoshop through my design school, but I don’t have all the time in the world to mess with it. I would love to take beautiful shots from the get-go, and not have to worry so much about all of the editing. My usual problems are lighting and focus, so it would be awesome to get some tips. Not only does Amy hope to motivate you to use your camera every day, she’s also sharing tips from her professional photography contributors, like Candace Moss of Mom and Pop Photo School, who is also hosting a giveaway on Mombot on Jan 20!

Photo from The Day Book

I loved this essay on blogging from The Day Book, it all felt so real and actually inspired me to start expressing myself more in each post I write. It also got me thinking about how I immediately assume that every other blogger is living this amazing life, where they have cupcakes every morning for breakfast, get new, free clothes shipped to them daily and they just craft all afternoon. Nobody does that (unless you do…then I want to meet you and be your best friend). We all have crappy days. And we all have amazing days. We all have meltdowns. And moments of pure bliss. Because, we’re all human.

This week was the week for inspiring essays because Joy from Oh Joy shared her thoughts and goals for 2014, and my girl Grace was on point with this essay on mindfulness.

What did you love about this week? Any good crafts, recipes, interviews and/or essays you want share? Post the link in the comments and share on your social media sites. This is how we get an awesome community going, by sharing all the beauty we find. And if you are feeling bogged down, take a minute to think about what you’re looking at.